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Beauty: Could It Be More Than Just in the Eye of the Beholder?

Beauty. We all want it, gravitate to it, seek it out, admire it, strive to surround ourselves with it, and sacrifice to embody it. But could it be that what is pleasing to the eye is more than just visual eye-candy? What if beauty were a force, a power that could change your life? What if beauty held within it the seeds of a greater growth and inspirational quality of life?

Being an over-the-top fan of Oscar Wilde, I find myself haunted by his insights and wisdom. One of my favorite Oscar Wilde suggestions is his idea that the fastest way to transform your mind is to surround yourself with beauty. Interesting and compelling, isn’t it!?!

I have no doubt that Oscar is right. Consider that when you seek out an environment in which to relax and enjoy life, aren’t you ultimately attracted to it by virtue of its beauty? When you consider your next vacation destination isn’t it always motivated by what grabs your visual attention? When you fall in love, whether or not the person is a “classic beauty”, don’t you know it when you see your beloved as perfect and just right for you? The truth is that human beauty is very different from outer world beauty. Pretty faces can lie in ways a sunset cannot. After all, human beauty is not determined exclusively by its outer packaging but more importantly by an inner quality of honesty, pristine kind-heartedness and loving-kindness. Could it be then that beauty is a form of self-correction or inner self-healing?

Also being an enormous fan of scientist/mystic/inventor Emanuel Swedenborg, who wrote numerous volumes on the mystic Law defined as you are whatyou love and you love whatever you give your attention to, I have begun to piece together the foundation for Wilde’s passionate view on beauty. Swedenborg lived in the 16th and 17th centuries and mastered every know science in his lifetime. He was a metallurgist and also a member of Sweden’s parliament. In addition to the accolades he earned in his own lifetime, he was voted by Stanford University to be one the most brilliant persons to have ever lived in all of human history.

Swedenborg was raised the son of a Lutheran Bishop in Stockholm, so he used the common religious vernacular of his time, such as Heaven and Hell. But he had a dramatically and radically different perspective on the definition of those terms than we have and use today. He defined Heaven as a place or state of being that is unlimited. Conversely, he defined Hell as a place or state of being that is limited. That is it. No other embellishments or religious agendas attached. He also noted in his writings that no one needed to die to experience Heaven or Hell, that indeed we all experience them right here and right now according to what we give our attention to.

So, if we take Oscar Wilde’s intelligence and combine it Swedenborg’s other worldly wisdom, therein lies the complete comprehension of the power of beauty. Using Swedenborg’s definitions of Heaven and Hell we can clearly see that beauty lives exclusively in Heaven. Beauty is unlimited in nature. It makes us feel, on an interior level, unlimited. It takes us to an inner place that is expansive and empowered. Hell is limited, and therefore by its very nature would be void and absent of beauty. I can’t imagine a better definition of Hell, actually, than a place that lacks beauty of any kind. Simplistically speaking, that is what makes Hell… Hell… there is nothing beautiful there. That is why it is limited, ugly and a place of unhappiness.

If Emanuel Swedenborg and Oscar Wilde had lived in the same time I could see them hosting seminars and workshops on the fastest way to usher your mind and nervous system into a liberated place. And, of course, that would include surrounding yourself with beauty, because beauty only lives in Heaven, the ultimate unlimited state of existence!

No wonder we go to beatific locations and call it “Heaven on Earth.” Furthermore it is no coincidence that we all associate beauty with paradise and paradise with beauty. Could surrounding oneself with beauty be the magic golden ticket to transforming one’s Earthly experience into an Angelic/Heavenly one?

Whether or not we all agree on the answer to this, what do you have to lose by making your world and life more beautiful? On your deathbed can you honestly ever imagine regretting having spent your time and energy converting the ugly limited places in your life into life-enhancing works of art? And if there is something to this notion that when we die we all go through a life review, what would be more enriching and delightfully satisfying than a panoramic view of all that is deliciously lovely?

Being devoted to the life contributions of both Swedenborg and Wilde, I feel like I have a no can lose situation. I can both practice living in Heaven and be fashionably awesome all in the same beautiful moment. How Heavenly Blessed is that!

Vaishali is the author of Wisdom Rising and You Are What You Love. She is an international health & wellness speaker who has appeared on The Dr. Oz Radio Show and Oprah.com. Vaishali learned to transform her life from the threat of two terminal disease diagnoses, domestic abuse and financial devastation.Join Vaishali in Los Angeles July 21st & 22nd for a one or two day ‘Create Your Health Holistically Though Chi Nei Tsang & Ayurveda” and/or “Spirituality 505” To: learn more visit: http://www.purplev.com/mediakit/?page_id=54